Trail of Tears Alec Winkle
Alec Winkle 11/18/13 Mr. Chapin Trail of Tears 'Introduction ' Imagine being held at gunpoint and told to immediately leave your home and move out west into territory you have never even seen before. Without exaggeration, this is exactly what happened to the Native Americans who lived in American colonies. This terrible event is known as The Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is remembered to be one of the most brutal acts of the Americans against Native Americans. It was a period in America in which the Indians were forced out of their homes and to move west without knowing how or even if they were going to survive. The amount of deaths among the natives on this march shows the harshness of this period itself, let alone the suffering that the natives experienced while still alive. Many of the natives experienced extreme starvation, brutality from the American soldiers, and terrible diseases that caused the majority of the deaths. The accounts of the Trail of Tears create an eye opener to the cruelties that can be displayed by a country so great as the United States (combination of sources including Pauls, Sherfy, Goodheart, Britannica “Cherokee”, and History “Trail of Tears” - a lot is from p.125 Sherfy). The trail of tears was an extremely harsh act against the Native Americans that was caused for insufficient reasons that gave no justification for the pain put upon them. 'American Struggle With Indians ' Many Americans completely resented the Indians. Not only did they not like them, but they also feared them. Especially on the western frontier, Americans struggled with the Indians to a large degree. Their biggest problem with the Indians was that they were taking up land. Many of the Americans believed that the natives didn’t deserve to live in American land. They thought that the natives didn’t necessarily live as Americans under the same government and such. Therefore they thought the natives should live elsewhere where they wouldn’t cause disruption to the Americans. Westward expansion was huge during this time period, and the Indians were thought to be in the way. American people looked upon the Indians as alien people who lived in the land that only Americans deserved (History “Trail of Tears” paragraph 1). Some American officials, such as Washington, believed that the easy solution to the “Indian Problem” was to civilize the natives. They attempted to make the Indians adopt American ways such as converting to Christianity, learning English, adopting ways of American economy, and following the government systems. This idea of civilizing the natives worked for some tribes such as the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee tribes. Many of these tribes were in the southeast such as Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. These five tribes mentioned above became known as the “Five Civilized Tribes”. Although these tribes became to be less resented by Americans due to their “civilization”, they still occupied valuable land that was desired by the American settlers. The American settlers’ desire for the land ended up overriding the tolerance of these tribes. They became so angry that they ended up attacking the natives, stealing from them, and burning their houses and towns (History “Trail of Tears” paragraphs 1 & 2). ' ' 'President Jackson’s View of the Indians ' President Andrew Jackson had similar views as the rest of the nation on the Native Americans. He believed that there was simply no way for the natives and the people of the United States to get along. He thought that the Indians and the Americans lived too close to live peacefully. He also reprimanded the natives for hurting the American people. In the message to the Creeks, President Jackson tried to convince the Creeks that their best chances of living peacefully were west of the Mississippi ("The Indians Jackson's Message to the Creeks" paragraphs 2 & 3). “Friends and Brothers, listen. Where you now are, you and my white children are too near too each other to live in harmony and peace. Your game is destroyed, and many of your people will not work and till the earth. Beyond the Mississippi, where a part of your nation has gone, your Father has provided a country large enough for all of you, and he advises you to remove to it. There your white brothers will not trouble you; they will have no claim to the land, and you can live upon it, you and all your children, as long as the grass grows or the water runs, in peace and plenty. It will be yours forever” ("The Indians Jackson's Message to the Creeks" paragraph 3). 'Indian Removal Act of 1830 ' The Indian Removal Act stated that the Indians would be promised lands west of the Mississippi if they were to agree upon completely leaving their homes in the eastern region of the nation. The Indians were promised to be under the financial aid of the United States government and that they would be under the protection of the United States government as well. The Indian Removal Act gave way to President Jackson signing about seventy additional removal treaties into law. These treaties caused the removal of about 50,000 Indians formerly living in the eastern region of the United Sates. President Jackson mainly concentrated the relocation of the natives to the land of Oklahoma (U.S. Department of State paragraphs 6 & 7 and "Indian Removal Act of 1830"). 'Indian Resistance and the Trail of Tears ' The Indian Removal Act led to many things. Some of the tribes, such as the Choctaw, moved peacefully to the west of the Mississippi and took President Jackson’s word on the aid and protection of the United States government for their relocation. Other tribes, such as the Chickasaw, the Creek, and the Seminoles, were reluctant to take the president’s word and move out west, but left anyway to avoid further conflict. Some tribes however, such as the Cherokee, made the decision to resist removal and fight for their current land (U.S. Department of State paragraphs 8 & 9 along with Pauls “Trail of Tears” paragraphs 4-9). The Cherokee were the main Indian tribe that resisted removal. The Cherokee mainly fought against removal at a legal standpoint. They tried to refuse removal by claiming the land in which they lived (mainly Georgia) had no jurisdiction over them and the government couldn’t make them leave. The resistance of the Cherokee and other Indian tribes is what primarily caused the Trail of Tears (Britannica School "Cherokee" paragraphs 8-10 along with Pauls “Trail of Tears” paragraph 9). 'Trail of Tears (Facts) ' The Trail of Tears was the removal of all of the Native Americans in the United States. Although many tribes of Indians were forced to move on the Trail of Tears, the removal of the Cherokee was the most significant. The strong resistance of the Cherokee caused the Trail of Tears to be focused mainly on them. President Jackson and the American people became so frustrated with the Cherokee that they went into the Cherokee land and rounded up everyone they could find. General Winfield Scott was sent with 7,000 troops to the Cherokee lands to force their march to the west. They would send them on their way to the west in groups of about 1,000 people. Many Cherokee homes and towns were attacked my Americans and burned down. During the fall and winter of 1838-1839, about 15,000 Cherokee people were forced out of their homes to march west. During this march of 116 days, about 4,000 Cherokee Indians died of starvation, disease, and the harsh treatment of the American troops (Britannica School "Cherokee" paragraphs 9-10 along with Sherfy p.125). 'Why is it called the “Trail of Tears” ' The term “Trail of Tears” itself comes from the Cherokee accounts of the Indian Removal because they seem to have experienced the worst of the Americans’ treatment. The American troops seemed have treated other tribes better due to their more submissive removal. The Cherokee did everything except submit. They refused to leave until practically held at gunpoint in their own homes. Many of them were literally held at gunpoint in their own homes. The harsh treatment of the American troops in the removal of the Cherokee along with the harsh conditions of the march itself created the term “Trail of Tears”. The facts themselves show reason for this term: 4,000 out of 15,000 died (Britannica School "Cherokee" paragraphs 9-10 along with Sherfy p.125) . 'Conclusion ' The Trail of Tears shows an extreme cruelty of Americans with their dealing with the Native Americans. It may seem just to think that the Indians didn’t deserve to live in American land if they weren’t Americans. However, they didn’t move into American land. American land was put around them, and they simply stayed where they were. The cruelty of the Trail of Tears was not just harsh, but it was harsh mainly due to the greed and stubbornness of the Americans. Their main reason was their desire for the Indians’ land, and they caused the death of 4,000 natives for it. Even when the Indians tried be ‘civilized’ and convert to American ways, they were treated terribly.